Set in the distant future, “The Callisto Protocol” is a sci-fi survival horror game which revolves around Jacob Lee, a cargo ship pilot who crashes on Jupiter’s moon, Callisto, and becomes imprisoned in the maximum-security Black Iron Prison. When inmates begin to transform into monstrous creatures, he must fight them to survive and escape while uncovering sinister secrets surrounding the mysterious moon.
The game is rated M18 for violence and gore.
Played from a third-person perspective, the player explores dark and decrepit locations where bloodstains and bodily remains can be encountered. To progress through the game, the player must employ melee weapons, guns, and environmental hazards to fight and kill mutated and human enemies. There are some jump-scare moments when enemies suddenly appear to attack the player. Getting caught by an enemy can result in the player being killed. In addition, the player must navigate treacherous environments, such as using torrents of water to meander through and avoid spiked pillars and rotating fan blades, or risk being impaled or dismembered upon impact.
Throughout the game, there are graphic depictions of violence when the player beats up, stomps, or uses guns to fire at humans and mutated creatures. Stronger depictions feature enemies being dismembered and decapitated with copious bloodletting portrayed. The player can also use a spinning woodchipper to obliterate enemies, resulting in blood mists seen. Such depictions of violence are contained under the M18 rating, where the Classification Guidelines allow “depictions of realistic violence, such as killing, maiming or causing other serious injury to humanoid characters.”
Coarse language is uttered by characters, such as the expletive “f**k”. There is also the use of crude language, such as “bitch” and “shit”.